Igniter for internal-combustion engines



R. SOYER.

IGNITER FON INTERNAL coNBusTloN ENGINES.

4APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1919.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922o www 3, a e. hd

UNITED STATES ROBERT SOYER, 0F ISSY, FRANCE.

IGNITER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

'\A Application led May 27, 1919. Serial No. 300,200.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PRVISIONS GF THE AUT @F MARCH 3, 19.21, 41 STAT. L., 1313.)

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT Soran, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at 179 Quai dIssy, Issy, Seine, France, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Igniters for Internal-Combustion laingines, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention has for its object to provide igniters for internal combustion cngines, which igniters can be readily removed and replaced, they being especiallyfintended to be employed in connection with engines, of great power in which high compression, is used; such, `for example, as in the engines used with air-craft.

Igniters as hitherto constructed and applied have many drawbacks and such of them as have'certain good qualities, usually have also serious defects. For example, in devices with'compact insulators, it has been necessary to employ joints made by metalloplastic or amianthus, or cement, silicate, and

the like, which joints are not always tight, especially after the first cleaning, and in some cases their removal, and taking to pieces, are rendered impossible.

In igniters which are removable from the outside, making the joints as usual by agglomeration' (on what is known as the Schopp system), or by moulding, or by,

means of soft. metal, will not avoid leakage between the insulator and its cover. The cone joints employed in some cases, necessitate knocking in order to disconnect the apparatus, and this usually injures the insulators.

sleeve encirc ing the insulator and perfectly fitting and adhering to it under working temperature, this arrangement superseding all joints in the igniter and assuring at all times the requisite tightness, whilst enabling the igniter to be at once withdrawn from. the exterior for cleaning, or repair. The igniter is also provided with compressible discs which prevent expansion of the parts under heat from altering the pressure on the insujoint of the whole igniter.

The igniter made in accordance with the` lator. 'lhe protecting cap, or insulator cover, of the upper, or outer, part of the igniter merely 4acts as a protecting piece which is hermetically closed, but can be readily removed without interfering with the igniter itself, and the electrode which is adjacent to that carried by the central rod acts as a guard against the entrance of dust, or the fall of debris into the cylinder in case of breakage.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an igniter constructed in accordance With this invention, Figure l is a longitudinal section Figure 2 shews the igniter removed for cleaning, or repair Figure 3 is an underside end-view. Figure 4: is a cross sectional view of a portion of theligniter showing the sleeve and insulatedportion, on an enlarged scale.

The electrode, is constituted by a screwed conducting rod a, and the lower end piece b, (which is preferably of pure nickel), which constitutes the electrode point. The said rod a; is embedded in a compact insulator c which may be of porcelain, steatite or the like, and whose exterior has a slight inclination, so as to constitute a suitable bearing for the sleeve d which surrounds it and constitutes the sole It is of hard, rigid, material, preferably steel, and is properly fashioned and then Ypermanently mounted on the insulator its inner surface having an inclination the same as that of the opposed surface of the insulator the inclination of these two surfaces being determined so that the different expansibility of the two bodies, will give perfect tightness of the joint at working temperatures.

The sleeve a? is secured by the screw-nut e in the socket-'piece f carried by the engine, the screw-nut e forcing theilange d2 o n the sleeve al against the ledge 71,3 on the said socket-piece the said sleeve being guided in the seat g of the said socket-piece f, by a shoulder it, reducing to a minimum the surface of contact of the heat conducting surfaces.

The lower end of the socket-piece has fixed in it a shield z', which may be, say, of steel, or nickel; its outer side being concave its centre being perforated. This shield e the annular electrode, and is also f dirt also affords absolute security protector against the admission or i against the descent of debris from the parts above into the engine'cylinder, in the eventl 'of breakage.

of the electrode point b and compensate for expansion and contraction and cause the pressure to be constant at working temperatures.

The upper end ofy the rod a has the securing screw-nut Z, screwed onto it to holdI the protecting-cap, or insulating hood, p (of any suitable insulating material) in place, the said cap, or hood, bearing, at its lower part, on the, screw-nut e as shown; so that the cap, or hood, p, is not aV fixture but can be readily removed and comes away with the other parts of the igniter whendisinounted whilst it aliords a perfectly hernnetical` joint and excludes oil, dust, and water, which are usually, in ordinary igniters such fruitful sources of short circuits. p

The sleeve d is adjustedto the insulator c in such a way as to adhere perfectly to it at the operating temperature. In practice this adjustment takes place after having turned the insulator to a cone of about 0.142", (Fig. 4) and fitting on the ring-,which has been turned to the same cone, having previously heated it in hot oil. This adjustment taking place under a pressure of about 600 kg., and at a temperature slightly above the operating temperature, that is to say 40() degrees. The ring then adheres absolutely to the insulator and forms a part of it. This relatively slightly conical shape is chosen in or-l der to assure the tightness of the insulator to the ring, assuring its closing during the operation of the motor and at the same time the cone is sufliciently slight to obtain almost a cylindrical form so that as the conout.

As seen from Figure 2, the whole of the traction of the ring forms a errule, the pressure of the' mounti is released uniformly, and on a porcelain body maintaining perceptibly the same thickness throughparts constituting the igniter can be removed together from the cylinder, the igniter which` can remain attached to the conductor m, avoiding the removal of the socket-piece ,f and rendering cleaning very easy.

It will be understood that this invention is not limited to the precise details of construction'illustrated as they can obviously be varied in accordance with the requirements 'of any particular case.

The insulators, can be made of any suitable substance, such, for instance, as porcelain, crystal quartz, steatite, and the like.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is l. In igniters for internal combustion engines, a sleeve of rigid metal, with an inclined interior and adapted to an insulator with a correspondingly inclinedexterior, the

insulator surrounding a central rod carrying the electrode point, the said sleeve having a rigid metal shoulder, and being held in the igniter socket-piece by a screw-nut holding said shoulder on the sleeve a ainst a ledge in the socket-piece; substantia 1y as hereinbefore explained.-

2. In an igniter in accordance with the preceding claiming clause; the combination of copper, or like,` discs arranged as described, so as to com-pensate for expansion 'and contraction between'the insulator andf .the rod of the electrode; substantially* 'as hereinbefore explained. In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed' my name.

ROBERT soYEn. 

